Readers' corner
Recognise the problem
Sir-- Hamas has not learned the required mantra about recognising Israel, yet Hamas is no threat to Israel.
Hamas is not well-armed, nor is it, surrounded and penetrated as it is by Israel, in a position to become so. Israel speaks as though not recognising it is an unforgivable defect, but governments often fail to recognise other governments. The United States has a long list of governments it has not recognised in the past and ones it does not recognise now. This is not always a smart thing to do, but it is not a crime, it is not even a faux pas, and it may just be a negotiating point.
Hamas has not invaded Israel, nor has it conducted a campaign of assassinating Israeli leaders, both actions Israel has repeated against Palestinians countless times. Every time some disgruntled individual in Gaza launches a home-made, ineffectual rocket, Israel assassinates members of Hamas or sends its tanks into Gaza, killing civilians. Presumably, a peaceful Palestine would be one either where there were no disgruntled people or where an efficient police-state stopped them all.
This is a preposterous expectation. It simply can never be. With all of Israel's violent occupations and reprisals, it has never been able to impose absolute peace, not even on its own territory. How much less able is any Palestinian authority to enforce absolute peace when Israel allows it pitifully limited resources and freedom of movement?
Realistically, the expectation for absolute peace should be interpreted as a deliberate barrier to a genuine peace settlement. Why would Israel use a barrier to peace when its official statements never fail to mention peace? Because most leaders of Israel, probably all of them, have never given up the frenzied dream of achieving Greater Israel, a concept which allows for no West Bank and no Palestinians. There seems no rational explanation other than wide support of this goal, for Israel's persistent refusal to comply with agreements which could have produced peace, the Oslo accords perhaps being the greatest example. Israel worked overtime to destroy the Oslo Accords, always attributing their failure in public to the very Palestinians who had worked hard to see the accords born.
John Chuckman
New York
USA
Not Israel's fault
Sir-- I find it ironic when I read that incursions into Gaza purportedly are because of rockets raining down on Israel. Then to further raise one's ire is to have the Palestinians complain that the Israelis are now retaliating as if they are not supposed to protect themselves from those who were given a golden opportunity to create a better life for the Palestinians after Israel pulled out of Gaza. But instead, they have made life worse, sending rockets into Israel as if they have impunity to do so. Then they complain to the UN when a severe response ensues. For 60 years, the world has asked Israel for restraint without slamming the actions of the neighbours of Israel who created this atmosphere of chaos.
Barry Miller
Michigan
USA
How much water?
Sir-- All the Israelis have ever wanted was to be left alone by the Arabs. Failing that, they had to make sure they wouldn't be pushed into the sea by force of arms. But there is never peace. When one is trying to put out a fire... how much water is too much water? When the flooding starts, you hold back, but if the fire blazes again, you throw on an abundance of water. The Jews would be the best thing that ever happened to the Arabs if the Arabs allowed them to be.
Pablo Bloque
Oregon
USA
New Iraq
Sir-- What are you going to do to improve your country? Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? What is your part? Is this how you want your children raised? Do you really want your children to see all this fighting and killing? What about your mothers and daughters? Do you want your sons and brothers shot up in the street? It's time for peace for the Iraqi people, but we all have to work together. We have to be in one accord. We all have to want the same thing: peace. It is time to come into a new era, a new time in history where people do not have to live in fear. The Saddam reign is over. This was not just an American feat; it was an Iraqi feat as well. This is your country. The time has come for a "new" Iraq. Think about it. Let peace reign among you.
Rebecca Metheny
California
USA
To fall a tree
Sir-- The old expression "a small axe falls a mighty tree" should ring loudly in the ears of those struggling in Lebanon. Looking at the success of anti-imperialist movements in Vietnam (America), Afghanistan (Russia), the failure of Israel to defeat Hizbullah, and the current quagmire enveloping British and American forces in Iraq, one would surely think that much more than a mere quid pro quo should be the objective in a struggle against an enemy too weak to accept losses. With more support and less appeasement from weak kneed "brothers", those brave enough to continue the struggle could expect to "fall a might tree".
Simon Oisiodhachan
Tokyo
Japan
The real culprits
Sir-- I can't help but notice that almost all your cover photos show Arabs suffering at the hands of Americans or Israelis. The majority of injustices against Arabs are committed by other Arabs. The same is true for Muslims. Why not show photos of those who are suffering in Darfur along with photos of those causing the suffering?
Janet Donnet
Wyoming
USA
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